Read Revelation 6:9-11; 7:9-12
What are we to say to those who teach that the
righteous enter into an unconscious state after death, awaiting the
resurrection and judgment?
o Does
the Bible teach soul-sleep? Death and sleep are, of course, similar. As Vine says in his Word Studies of the New Testament, restfulness and peace normally characterize both. But the Bible never says a soul or body falls
asleep, only the person. In Dan. 12:2 sleep is used with those that are
clearly dead physically. It is a way to
speak of death that lessens the sting for the righteous; like sleep, it is not
the final situation.
o Concerning
the inability of the dead to praise God, those passages simply mean the man,
after death, can’t take part in the activities of this world. As Louis Berkhof says (Systematic Theology), The
work of the artisan is arrested, the voice of the singer is hushed, the scepter
of the king falls. The body returns to
the dust, and the praise of God in this world ceases forever. What we did here ends; we cease to be God’s
witness in the world. Further, note that in Rev. 7:9-12 the righteous dead,
before their resurrection, are lifting praise in heaven!
o What
of the surprise at the judgment? This may sound good but is apparently
wrong. Judgment is a time of announcement; the decision has alread6y been
made in this lifetime. The passage in
Matt. 7 for example, the surprise is because of the basis of judgment, not the
judgment itself. Note that in Rev.
6:9-11 the souls of the righteous dead
from the tribulation are under the throne; they are told to rest until others
join them after dying the martyr’s death.
They are resting consciously, awaiting resurrection and then judgment.
o As
to those who were raised from the dead but never told of the life beyond, this argues
from silence of course. Perhaps they are not permitted to tell;
perhaps they have no memory. Silence
does not mean there was no reality.
o Lastly,
concerning the necessary uniting of body and soul, this simply is not
true. God is a spirit without a body
(John 4:24; 1:18). Heb. 12:23, referring
to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven, speaks of the spirits of righteous men made
perfect. And in Rev. 6:9-11, in a
time before the resurrection of their bodies, John says he saw under the altar the souls of those who had
been slain because of the word of God.
They are certainly not in an unconscious sleep but cry out in prayer for
God to avenge their blood on the inhabitants of the earth.
Having responded to these arguments, in our
upcoming post we will give some positive arguments for the conscious existence
of the righteous after departing their bodies and this earthly existence. Praise God there will be eternal rest, not
unconscious sleep, for the weary!
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